About Me

Jim is the author of eight novels, three memoirs and four business books. He made a covered wagon and horseback trip across Texas to retrace the journey his ancestors had made two generations earlier and wrote Biscuits Across the Brazos to chronicle the trip. He traveled the team roping circuit as an amateur and worked roundups on big ranches. Working beside real cowboys sent him back to writing. Using lessons he had learned from more than 10,000 client interviews over thirty years and memories from his rural Texas roots, Jim published five novels in his Follow the Rivers series and three in the Tee Jessup/Riverby series. He has also published three memoirs and story collections.He has been a Writers Digest International Book Contest Finalist.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Granny's Buttons

My mother, like many women of her era, seldom disposed of
any garment. When it was no longer suitable for wear, she found use for the
fabric. Some pieces were used as rags; some might have been stuffed under a
door to keep out the cold; some became quilt pieces. She also cut off the
buttons and saved them. My wife Jan spent a great deal of time caring for Mother
in her final years. She cherishes the small things Mother left, things valuable
only to those who loved her. Jan is a quilter, and she especially loved
Mother’s collection of buttons. For
Christmas this year, she decided others needed to share this legacy. This is
the note she wrote to the women and girls in our immediate family. The button bags
were given to Mother’s granddaughters and great-granddaughters.

“Granny” Button Bags

Granny was very
frugal, as were most women of her era. As garments would wear out, Granny
would cut off the buttons before disposing of the garment, saving them for
future use. The buttons on your bag are some that she saved. She
would have thought it very special that they were placed on a bag made just for
you, her granddaughter, with special keepsakes inside. The recipes, in
her handwriting, were in her recipe file box along with greeting cards she had
received, receipts for various things, dates she purchased a TV (September 23,
1976), obituaries for family and friends and other important
documents.

Such a special
lady!

When I looked through those buttons and notes and recipes
written in Mother’s distinctive hand, I noticed that she titled her recipes not
Key Lime Pie, or Mince Meat Pie, but with the name of the person who gave the
recipe to her. Guess she figured the ingredients spoke for themselves. The
names brought back sweet memories of some of the most important women in my
life. Aunt Hildred, Aunt Jimmie Dee, Pauline Gervers, and many more. I was
stunned at the number of truly remarkable women in our rural community—women
who helped to raise me. And I do mean remarkable, resilient, kind, loving,
strong women.

I wrote and presented eulogies for Mother and Aunt
Hildred. Some of the other ladies left instructions for me to be a pallbearer
at their funerals. Can there be a greater honor? I made myself a note to write
more about them later. A short time before her death, Pauline got a message to
me that she wanted one of my books. I was pleased to deliver it. The visit was
short, and I don’t think I can properly express how it made me feel. Pauline
was the mother of my good friend, not my mother, of course, but as we shared
good memories, I felt my mother’s presence. Pauline made me feel loved that
day, just like she had when I was a little boy. What a gift.

6 comments:

I feel guilty throwing away old shirts. I have quilts that my Granny made from pieces of shirts I wore as a kid, old house coats, and my sister's, Mom's or Granny's dresses. They are family treasures, like memorial albums in cloth. She saved buttons, too. Good piece!

Our mothers were CEO's or business managers of our families before we even knew the terms. They stretched the limited dollars in very creative ways. Thank you for reminding me about the button jar and the quilts which warm our loved ones. We were truly blessed.

My Mother-in-law, Lottie Hilliard was a button saver. So was my grandmother but she used most of her's before she could save them for long.A short time ago my daughter asked if she could have her grandmother's string full of buttons because she had played with them for hours when she was a tiny girl. Grandma Hilliard would be most happy to know she had made a memory for one of her granddaughters.

I still have Momma's "button bucket." Actually it was a medium sized tin can that candy came in. It is full of buttons that she saved. I also have quilts she made from the quilt racks that hung from the living room ceiling. I thought they were such a nusuance then. Now I'm so thankful for the memory. I recognize some of the squares in the quilts as her dresses and mine as well when I was a little girl. They are such treasured keepsakes and as the commerical says "priceless."

"Granny's Buttons" brought back many good memories of my grandmothers & my Mother. Both of my grandmothers crocheted and made quilts. I am blessed to have many of the crochet pieces & quilts. They all saved buttons too. Going through my Mother's "stuff", I found little containers of buttons and scraps of material..many of them were from garments that I wore growing up. Those garments were made by my Mother from any fabric available..many from flour sacks. In the 40's & 50's, the flour sacks were cotton fabric, usually with a floral pattern & with Mother's creative mind & a pattern..pretty dresses, blouses & play suits appeared. Since I have a daughter & a granddaughter, I have recently given them the quilts, crochet & we have used the buttons in scrapbooking projects & to make gifts. Along with the quilts & crochet, I gave them written documentations of the stories & memories behind them. Hopefully this will help the memories to be passed on to new generations. Thanks for triggering the memories.

Many of those buttons represent the millions of stitches my mother made through years of being employed at a sewing factory . She picked up every button on the floor along with all the scraps to make quilts. This is the way she put food on the table. Nothing was ever for her, but always for us. I wish I could tell her how much I appreciate her now that I am older and have been confronted with some of life's hardships. It's unfortunate that we learn and understand all these things much too late .